


While I Breathe, I hope

by Guardian_of_Hope



Series: Search, Rescue, & Retrieval, the Clones Era [10]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Typical Violence, Childhood Friends, Clone Wars, Clones, Family, Friendship, Gen, Implied past torture, Jedi, clone deaths, force tricks, implied past inappropriate use of the Force, search rescue and retrieval
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-06-07 02:16:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15208637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/pseuds/Guardian_of_Hope
Summary: Kara Saje's final order before her disappearance was to initiate Operation Nerf Herder.Captain Zip has to balance his General's orders, a new mission, and a new general.  Especially, he has to keep the new General from realizing just what his people are up to.Meanwhile, Commander Saneone, Jaran Val, and other Jedi Generals prepare for one of the biggest rescues the 425th has been a part of yet.





	1. General Quinlan Vos

**Author's Note:**

> First, to Jahaliel on Tumblr for letting me rant about this chapter and the rest of this story.
> 
> Second, these chapters ARE in fact shorter than the past SRR stories, because I need to get back into the habit of longer chapters again.

General Quinlan Vos came onboard the _Retrieval_ less than twenty-four hours after General Kara Saje had been taken prisoner.  Zip, standing with Saneone to greet home, noted that the notoriously good natured Kiffar looked decidedly grim as he left his shuttle.

“General Vos,” Saneone said as they saluted him.

“Commander,” Vos replied.  “I am not here to take command of the 425th, I’m here to provide orders and make sure you get where you need to be.  We need a mission briefing as soon as possible.”

“Of course sir,” Saneone said, “our officers are standing by.”

Zip followed as Saneone and Vos left the hanger bay, uncertain how he felt about the 425th being in this odd limbo now.  He’d gotten the General’s message and acted on it, even as Saneone was on the comms with Coruscant to find out what was to happen to them.

He remembered the day Kara had brought him Operation Nerf Herder, and its possible fall out.  He specifically remembered her concern as to which of the two Kiffar Jedi would be leading the 425th.  If Vos stayed in command, they were likely to remain search and rescue, but if it was Val, they would be back in combat before the week was out.

Still, Zip thought, shaking his head slightly as they entered the briefing room, that would have to be dealt with as it came up.  They had enough issues at the moment.

For a moment, Zip flashed back on Kara… the General’s first briefing with them.  A Captain, two Lieutenants, and four sergeants to ride herd on fifty men.  Now, they had the Commander, a Captain, a Major, nine Lieutenants, nine Sergeants, and two Corporals.  Ten squads altogether, although Zip had never personally taken on a squad.  He preferred the mobility to claim a squad when he needed them rather than play favorites.

The General, Kara, the General, had played favorites in a way.  Knight Squad was her personal security detail in the field, and the General wouldn’t change that.  This, this disaster of an assignment was a good explanation as to why, in Zip’s opinion.

“Are we waiting on anyone?”  General Vos asked as everyone moved to stand by their seats.

“No sir,” Saneone said.

“I, I thought battalions were,” General Vos trailed off.

“Non-combat unit, sir,” Zip said, lifting his chin.  “We were decimated before the General took command, and rebuilding’s been a slow process.”

“I see,” General Vos said, still frowning.  The he gave a little nod, “Everyone grab a chair and I’ll explain why I’m here.”  He sighed a bit as he took a data disk from his pocket and passed it to Zip, who fed it into the reader and handed Vos the remote for it.

“Originally,” Vos said, “your assignment would have been to assist in the retrieval of Aayla Secura, and Anakin Skywalker.  However that mission has been settled, and something far more pressing has come to light.”

An image of a world appeared, “This is Diancir, on the border of Hutt Space.  Intelligence forces have reported that several missing Jedi are being held prisoner there.”  Now an image, slightly blurry and from a distance, of a compound with several large tanks about it.

“That’s an impressive place,” Foggy murmured softly.

“We aren’t expecting the 425th go in alone,” Vos said.  “You’ll be part of an attack force set to driving the Separatist troops off the planet.  Now, General Ki-Adi-Mundi will have over all command of the operation, but you will specifically be working under the command of Jaran Val, nominally.”

“Nominally,” Saneone said dryly.

Vos nodded, “Val’s commander is on medical leave for a month.  Commander Saneone, you will take temporary command of the 429th under General Val, as well as directing your men.  From General Saje’s ongoing reports, I understand that Captain Zip works closest with her on rescues?”

“Yes sir,” Zip said easily, trying to hide his surprise.

“You’ll be in charge of infiltrating the facility and retrieving the Jedi in question.”  Vos said.  “I’ll be with you, if you need me, but to be honest, I’m not trained in this like Saje was.  I’ve done Judicial work, but I’m, that’s not my training.”

His reluctance was clear, but Zip thought it was more because he wanted to see General Secura.  Kara, the General, General Saje, had explained about the bonds between Master and Padawan to him after a message from the Council had mentioned that she would need to accept one soon herself.  Zip took a moment to thank the Force, or whatever other power existed, for keeping his people from that particular complication so far.  One Jedi with a penchant for throwing herself at ambushes and off heights was quite enough for him.

“So we’re infiltrating that, that, _keldab,”_ Zip said, “and getting the Generals back, under the cover of a Republic assault?”

“Not sure what _keldab_ means, but yes,” Vos said.

Zip nodded slightly as he contemplated the fortress.  It would be a difficult maneuver, the sort of thing he had been trained to sink his teeth into.

“Take whomever you need,” Saneone said, “I’ll have the 429th to work with regardless.”

“I take it stealing from the 429th would be heavily frowned upon then?”  Zip asked.

“We’ll negotiate,” Saneone said after a moment.

“Don’t all the captains of the 429th hate your guts?”  Swoop asked casually.

“Don’t you keep ending up naked as a distraction?”  Zip replied.

“What?”  General Vos asked, startled.

Zip gave him a bland smile, “Sorry sir, sometimes my brother and I like to make obviously true statements that only an idiot would to dispute.  It’s a little game we like to play.”

“Okay, but, naked?”  General Vos repeated.

“It only happened twice, sir,” Swoop said tightly.

General Vos chuckled, “I won’t deny having pulled that myself, but if you ant a master of the art, then I’d suggest looking at Obi-Wan Kenobi.  There was about a year, he must have been eighteen or nineteen, and I honestly thought my Master was going to get alcohol poisoning.  He’d take a shot of Corellian whisky any time a Jinn-Kenobi report included the phrase “Padawan Kenobi removed an item of clothing”.  It’s an effective tactic, used sparingly.”

Zip blinked slowly, startled.  The _Cuy’val Dar_ had not been impressed with their distraction techniques.  Although Oddball had later sworn that he thought the Fett had been trying to hide a smile the whole time.

Vos stood, “I’m going to have a word with Captain Sei’lar.  We’re supposed to rendezvous with he 429th and the other battalions tomorrow for a final strategy session.”

“We’ll be ready,” Saneone said as they all stood and saluted.

Vos twitched slightly, then bowed and hurried out the door.  Zip glanced at Saneone, who was looking through the rest of the information that Vos had brought, then at Blaze.

The Lieutenant was watching, and when their eyes met, he nodded once, slightly, then headed out the room’s other door.

Zip collected Jumper and Swoop with a quick glance and led them back to the hanger.  There was a lot to do now.

* * *

Chip found General Vos pacing past one of the lifts, looking faintly bewildered. 

“Is everything all right sir?”  He asked carefully.

Vos regarded him a moment, frowning, then gave his head a light shake, “I fear I’ve gotten a bit turned around.  I’m looking for the Bridge.”

Chip nodded, “I can show you the way, sir.”

“I thought I knew these layouts better than this,” Vos muttered as Chip summoned the lift.

“The _Retrieval’s_ an old Judicial cruiser,” Chip said, “she didn’t get the refits that the combat cruisers did.”

“Search and Rescue special, huh?”  Vos said.

Chip gave him an impassive look, “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean sir.”

Vos looked at him for a minute, head tilted, as if Chip had just presented him with an interesting puzzle.

“You’re different,” Vos announced, reaching out to stop the lift between floors.  “Why are you different?”

“Sir?”  Chip said.

“I’ve been around a lot of the clones,” Vos said, “I don’t have my own command, but I’ve met a lot of them.  You, there’s something different about you.”

Chip straightened, not quite coming to attention as he considered Vos’s statement.  Finally, he swallowed, “I am different, sir.  I’m older than most of my brothers.”

“That’s not the only thing,” Vos said slowly.

Chip fought to keep his expression impassive, “I was a test subject, General, before Geonosis.  I’m not sure what you sense, but I wouldn’t doubt it’s related to that.  I apologize if I make you uncomfortable.”

“Actually, you’re the first one who hasn’t made me feel like I’ve got ants crawling under my skin,” Vos said.

It was no longer a struggle to hide his expression.  Chip felt a trickle of cold run down his spine, and he couldn’t help glancing over into Vos’s eyes.

“Ants, sir?  Like, like pins and needles, only not that… deep?”

“Something like that,” Vos murmured as he gave Chip a deep, penetrating look.

Chip’s wrist comm went off, he jerked back and stared at it before it went off again.  He hit the speaker, “Chip.”

“Trooper, is there a problem with the elevator?”  Blaze asked.

“I paused it,” Vos said loudly.  “I was asking Trooper Chip a few questions about Knight Squad.”

“As long as everything’s all right sir,” Blaze said.

“We’re fine, Lieutenant,” Chip said.

Vos started the lift and glanced at Chip, “They keep track of those things?”

Chip shrugged, “More that the Lieutenant asked me to wander by and make sure you weren’t lost or anything, so he’s keeping an eye on me.”

Vos chuckled a little.

“Lieutenant Blaze is in charge of Knight Squad.  We’re the General’s PSD, so keeping an eye on the Generals is our job.”  Chip said, “It’s not, it’s not about you, it’s just how we do things.”

“That’s good to know,” Vos said.  “I am sorry about Saje.”

Chip smiled, “We’ll find her when she’s ready.”  He spread his hands out as the door opened, “I have faith.”

“You know what? So do I,” Vos replied.


	2. Chapter 2

The _Retrieval_ looked smaller when situated beside the _Justified,_ Jaran thought as his shuttle headed for the two ships.  He knew it had been a Judicial ship before the war, and he’d heard that Kara had been assigned to it specifically for that reason.

Jaran glanced at the Captain who stood beside him. Zip had his eyes fixed on the _Retrieval,_ his head tilted slightly as he considered something.  The strategy meeting with Master Mundi, Asara, and Master Vos had been quick, with all of them committing to their role in the mission, and now it was time to prepare for the attack to commence.

“Sir, Commander Saneone is awaiting you on the _Retrieval,”_ his pilot said after a quiet conversation over the comm.

“Thank you,” Jaran said.  He glanced at Captain Zip, “We’ll start transferring troops in two hours.  I’ll have Lieutenant Creeper organize the squads going to the _Retrieval.”_

“Thank you General,” Captain Zip replied.  “I’ll have Major Screech handle things on our end.”

The cockpit was silent, save for the occasional comments from their pilot as the shuttle slid into the bay of the _Retrieval._   Waiting for them were five clones in armor.  One of them had command markings on his shoulder, and he appeared to be lecturing the other four.

Zip made a soft sound, almost a word, and Jaran almost asked.  The slight jar of the shuttle landing distracted him and instead he headed to the ramp to greet the commander.

“General,” Zip said, saluting, “we’ll see you on the ground.”

“May the Force be with you,” Jaran replied.

Zip stopped for a moment to speak to Commander Saneone and his followers, then headed off.  The last that Jaran saw, he had two other clones walking beside him and listening intently.  Quickly, Jaran turned his attention to the Commander.

“General Val,” Saneone said, saluting.

“Commander Saneone,” Jaran replied as he bowed in response.  He eyed Saneone’s companions as they followed Saneone’s example.  “Is there a problem?”

Saneone glanced at the others, “No sir.  Just some last minute instructions.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Jaran said, backing up.  He wasn’t fast enough, however, he could clearly hear it when Saneone turned back around.

“Two hours, and if you _di’kut’e_ manage to get into trouble, I won’t be responsible for you.  I’ll let General Saje handle your punishment.”

There was a sharp intake of breath, and something muttered that Jaran couldn’t here.

“Then stay out of trouble, Imp, it’s not like it’s hard.”

Jaran moved further back into the shuttle, closer to the door to the cockpit as the Commander came onboard, “My apologies General.”

Jaran inclined his head, “Accepted.  Now, I assume that Master Vos told you our circumstances in the 429th?”

“Commander’s injured,” Commander Saneone said shortly.

“Yes,” Jaran said.  “You’re technically transferring to the 429th temporarily, but you’ll revert back to the 425th after this mission.”

“Understood,” Saneone said.

“My captains are standing by, they know to expect you so there shouldn’t be too much difficulty,” Jaran continued as he braced himself against the shuttle’s taking off.

“Perhaps not,” Saneone said dryly.

Jaran left Saneone to acquaint himself with the captains of the 429th while he went to change into his blacks and to go over his armor for the fight to come.

They had fifteen minutes to go when Jaran joined his men on the Bridge.

“Are the last of the 425th on board?”  Jaran asked of Saneone as he approached the tactical boards.

“No,” Saneone said, “There’s some sort of a dispute going on.”

“Dispute?”  Jaran asked.

“Captain Sei’lar is on the comm,” Vince called, “he’s asking for the General.”

“Transfer it over here,” Jaran said, sighing.

A Bothan in a Republic Navy uniform appeared, his fur was rippling with agitation even in the degraded hologram.

“Captain Sei’lar,” Jaran said, “I’m Jaran Val, what seems to be the problem?”

“Major Screech and Captain Zip are, debating, one of the squadrons,” Sei’lar said with a slight grimace.  “They’ve gone round and round on it from the beginning, but, uh, some of the others are taking sides.”

A muffled boom went off suddenly, and a voice roared “Whom the fuck gave you explosives!”

“Captain, I would be much obliged if you’d lie to me,” Commander Saneone said softly, “but that wasn’t Mayhem was it?”

“No,” Sei’lar said, looking off screen.

Captain Zip appeared looking scorched and irritated, “It wasn’t yours, it was mine, brother.  If I didn’t need them on this,” he trailed off and sighed, “General Val, I apologize for disrupting your preparations, but I would be greatly obliged if you’d return to the _Retrieval_ and settle this matter.”

“I’m on my way,” Jaran said.  Kara would not appreciate her men destroying the ship while she was gone.

“Sir, the jump,” Saneone began.

“We’ll deploy from both ships,” Jaran said, “I’ll meet you on the surface.  You’ll be in charge of the deployment either way.  You are trained for this, I was not.”

Saneone blinked, clearly startled and Jaran sighed, “I was trained for diplomacy and protective details.  I can properly address seventeen different planetary leaders in their native tongue and customs, and I can fake my way through three dozen more.  I can protect someone from an assassin and direct a squad in doing the same.  More than that is far out of my area of expertise.  Unlike some of my fellow Jedi, I’m dumb enough to admit it.  Captain Finn, have a shuttle ready by the time I get to the hanger bay.”

“On it sir,” Finn called back.

After a quick stop to grab the case for his armor, Jaran boarded the shuttle.  “Let’s get this done,” he called to the pilot.


	3. Chapter 3

Settling custody of the 425th’s pseudo-scouts ended up taking most of the trip.  Jaran had barely enough time to get changed before they came out of hyperspace.  Given how things had started, Jaran probably shouldn’t have been surprised that their hyperspace exit ended up cutting straight into a barrage of turbolasers from a very large cruiser.

“Please tell me those are seps,” Jaran said into his communicator.

“They are,” Captain Sei’lar replied, “Orders?”

Jaran raised his eyebrows, “Don’t get us killed.  How you do it is up to you.”

“Understood, sir.”

“I’ll be standing by with the gunships for deployment,” Jaran added, “we’ll launch on your call.”

The hanger was crowded and Jaran couldn’t get to the gunship with the officers and ended up instead with a group of shinies when the launch order came.

“Get caught in the ‘fresher?”  One asked as they took off from the hanger.

“Do what?”  Jaran asked.

“Well, you’re not Flex Squad or Dare Squad,” the shiny replied.

“Of course not,” said one of the sergeants, “He’s 429.”

Jaran blinked, realizing that his armor, based in the 429th colors, had gotten him confused for a clone.  Again. As the gunship shuddered, Jaran made his choice.

“Came over with the General,” Jaran said, “I’m Hazard.”

“I’m Clip,” the Sergeant said, “stick with Flex and we’ll get you back to your General.”

“Appreciate it,” Jaran replied.

Finn and Ray would give him _looks_ for this but showing up with an escort would be less stressful for them than showing up alone.  As entertaining as watching his Commander fight down the urge to yell at him for a stunt like that, Jaran did try not to overstress his Captains.

The gunship began to jerk around more and Jaran stumbled into Clip as something outside the gunship exploded.  They all got thrown around after that.

“We’re going down,” someone shouted as Jaran was tossed against the ladder to the cock pit.

Jaran hooked an arm around the ladder for some stability and reached for the Force.  It responded as it always had, filling him with strength.  He sent it outward around the ship, hoping that he could do something.  Master Yoda had beat him black and blue with his stick to get _size matters not_ , and Jaran would not let his doubts fail the men around him.

The shaking lessened and Jaran freed his arm.  They were still going to crash, and Jaran wasn’t going to risk breaking himself by hanging on when he needed to be able to move.  Then the ship jerked up and back, his helmet cracked into the wall before he was launched towards the back of the ship.  Jaran curled into a protective ball, opened himself to the Force, and waited.

/././.\\.\\.\

Jaran woke up coughing, with the sense of someone looming over him.  He lunged forward, hand striking out at the figure.  He didn’t quite, the being moved back and something kept him from actually getting up.

Something clicked.

“Hazard, you kriffing idiot calm down!”

Jaran tried to speak, coughed, and reached for his helmet, hoping for air.

“No, the air is bad.”  Hands caught his hands before he could touch his helmet and he held still.

Jaran tried to say something, that he couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t _think._

“It’s Sergeant Clip,” the person said, “Let me check your bucket.”  Hands pushed on his helmet, there was a quiet thump and a click, and then he could see as a hand wiped off his visor and allowed light to filter in.  “You’re pinned down, okay?  We’ll get this cleared and get you to clear air.  Just hold on brother.”

Coughing kept Jaran from telling them that he _wasn’t_ a brother, and he realized that it was probably for the best.  He didn’t know what was happening, had no insight to offer.  It was one of those times where you needed to listen to the guide.

As the coughing subsided, Jaran took stock of himself, he was pinned under a piece of the ship hull.  He could see smoke behind Clip, and his audio picket up was relating the crackling sound of fire.  They probably didn’t have as much time as Clip was implying.

Jaran reached for the Force, intending to free himself, but a trio of troopers appeared and began lifting the hull piece before Jaran could say or do anything.  Once it was safely move, he let Clip help him stand up.  In doing so, he began to see more of where they were.  It looked like a cave, the stone rough and unworked.  The ship had been torn in half, most of it was lying intact across the cavern, but half the rest was in pieces around the cave and the last of it was on fire.

Jaran let Clip urge him across the cave as he took in the rock side that no doubt contributed to the bad air, forcing the smoke from the fire to concentrate in the cave.  They went past the nose of the gunship to a crack in the wall that opened into a room, with polished floors and walls that had been painted a light grey.  From the scattered boxes, it was for storage, but they quickly passed that into a corridor where a group of Troopers waited.

Jaran counted and swallowed, trying not to cough.  Two full squads and two pilots down to ten.  He was pretty sure two of them were pilots, which meant he’d done something, but the rest.

“Sergeant!”

Two more men showed up, one of them the shiny who had spoken to him before and the other a veteran, if only from the grim sense of purpose.

“Nate?”  Clip said.

“Stairs,” the veteran said.

“Going up!”  The shiny offered.

The impulse to offer a dryly sarcastic comment overrode caution and Jaran nearly doubled up as he began coughing again.

“Kriff,” Clip said grabbing him and steading it, “Whatever it is you’re trying to do?  Stop, before you hurt yourself.”

As the coughing calmed, Jaran gave Clip a rude gesture and the most sarcastic salute he could manage.

Clip titled his head, clearly giving him a once over, “What was your rank again?”

Jaran touched his throat and shrugged, _I can’t help you, I can’t talk._

“Right,” Clip said, and sighed.  “Let’s see if getting above ground can at least get us some comm chatter.  See what’s going on out there.”

Jaran nodded slightly, turning to follow him and the two scouts to the stairs.  Hopefully whatever was irritating his throat would clear up soon enough.  Kinetic speech was all well and good, but it lacked a certain ability to convey irony that Jaran missed.


	4. Chapter 4

Upon arriving at what Jaran thought was the actual ground floor, their comms came on with external information.

“There’s no sign of General Val,” Vos was saying, “and the rescue team is still finding a clear path in.”

“We will give them time,” Master Mundi replied.

 _How long?_ Jaran asked.  Part of him responded _not long enough._

Jaran studied the troopers as they gathered around Clip, speaking softly.  Jaran shook his head slightly and glanced up.  He wasn’t a tracker, or an empath, the beings he dealt with most often were about as easy to understand as a brick wall, but he could listen to the Force, and the Force was telling him that he needed to go up.

With another look at the troopers, Jaran started up the stairs again.  He kept his steps light, not silent, but not catching attention from the troopers.  They needed time to recover from the crash, not help him chase insane plans.  He made it past the landing and out of their sight without being spotted.

His captains were going to use him for target practice.

Jaran paused and grinned, he could always use the blocking practice after all.

At the next landing, there was a door, so Jaran rested his hand on it, closed his eyes and listened in the stillness of his mind.

“Ahem.”

Jaran jumped, stumbling backwards and finding Clip watching him.

“Mind explaining what you’re doing?”

Jaran shrugged and started up the stairs again.

“Hazard,” Chip said.  There was a soft mutter and Jaran heard them following.  He jogged up the stairs, not wanting to be slowed down now.

At the next door, he glanced at the men following him and gestured for silence.  Then he opened the door.

He didn’t need the Force to tell him that his people were wondering if he was crazy.

Jaran prowled own the hallway, listening for droids.  He didn’t pull the blaster he carried, or his lightsaber, knowing that the way was clear.  The people in the facility were either fighting or hiding, and this corridor of labs was not a safe place to be.

Following instinct, he found a lounge with large windows to the outside.  They were opposite where the majority of the Republic forces, and if it weren’t for the barely audible occasional explosions, he would have found it almost peaceful to stare out at the jagged mountains that formed a backdrop to the facility.

“Hazard,” Clip said.

Jaran sighed and pulled his helmet, feeling the shock of as his braids came loose.

“Seriously,” Jaran whispered, careful not to agitate his throat, “you can just call me Jaran.”  He moved over to the windows and looked down, studying the amount of space between the wall and the ravine that separated them from the mountains.

“General,” Clip said.

Jaran glanced up, twisting to see what was above.

“The Jedi are up there,” He continued hoarsely.  “Does anyone have water?”

“Here,” Dash said, holding out a bottle.

Jaran accepted and took a quick swallow and cleared his throat, pleased that he didn’t cough again.  “Thank you Dash.”

“You’re welcome, uh, sir,” Dash said

Jaran considered the window, then glanced over his shoulder, “What’s your question, Sergeant Clip?”

“You, uh, you’re a General,” Clip said.

“Sometimes,” Jaran said, tapping the window.

“But you wear armor,” Clip said after a moment.

“Yeah,” Jaran said, “Imagine that.”  He paused and ducked his head, “Sorry, yes, I do.”  He turned from the window, “I forgot, you aren’t 429th.  Uh, the thing is, I’m a Kiffar.”  He wiggled his hand, “We’ve a genetic trait for psychometry, the reading of empathic residue on objects.  About one in a hundred have a viable, trainable talent, but they’re all at different strengths.  Master Vos can pull with a bit of concentration, less if the emotion’s really strong.  Me, I’m stronger.  I pick it up without trying, no concentration or focus needed.”  He turned back to the window, “The armor is an effective barrier, full body protection.”  He stepped back, “Almost makes me feel normal.”  Then he turned, “Do we have any rope?”

Clip had pulled his helmet off, at Jaran’s question he smiled, almost like he couldn’t help himself and a couple of others snickered.

“What?”  Jaran asked.

“The General’s been twitchy about rope for weeks,” Clip said, “kept saying it wasn’t anything, but anyone near could hear her talking about it in her sleep.  So the Captain ordered extra rope and packed all the gunships.”

“Great,” Jaran said.

“Sir, if the Jedi are up there,” one of the others said.

“The floor is secured,” Jaran said, “not just droids, but people.  They aren’t expecting us, but they are expecting something.”  He leaned against the wall.  “The best way up is the side of the building.  This place isn’t a prison, whatever they’re using to hold the Jedi, it’s makeshift at best.  I’m going to climb the side of the building, bust open the wall and help them get back down.”

“That should be us,” Clip said.

Jaran palmed his lightsaber, “You don’t have jetpacks, do you?”

Another snicker.

Jaran leaned over, “Yes?”

“The General’s been trying to get us jetpacks,” one of the others said, “she hasn’t exactly had much success.”

“And you are?”  Jaran asked.

“I’m Milo, Bucket Squadron,” came the response, “the original Bucket Squadron.”

Jaran nodded slightly, “All right, the reason you need jetpacks, or to be a Jedi, is because of both the wind shear and the building’s construction make normal climbing impossible.  I can use the Force and my lightsaber to get up there, but I can’t do that for anyone else.” 

“Sir, climbing in armor isn’t easy,” Clip said.

“Oh yeah,” Jaran said.  “Lots of things aren’t easy in armor.  But, the undersuit is just as useful.”  He began to pull off his armor.

“Sir,” Clip began.

Jaran straightened up, “Sergeant.”  When Clip didn’t continue, Jaran returned to pulling off his armor, setting aside his sabers in the process.  Once he stood in his blacks, Jaran sighed softly.  “Hold this room.  I’ll be back with information soon.”

Jaran called his lightsabers to his hands, regarded them a moment and then hoked the primary onto his belt.  He turned on the shoto and used it to knock out the window.  That done, he stepped onto the sill and began looking for a starting point in the climb.


End file.
